Comments

bob1957

Phil would be right if it was universally true in NYS but, it is not. So Phil's (and many many others)supposition that public sector cost control is a strong solution is invalid. If we look at the economy from the Albany area south to NYC, NYC to Long Island this state has two economies. One thriving, the other in a swirling downward spiral. From Albany north to Albany west the economy is in serious trouble and has been. It is much more expensive in these areas (south of Albany) where the economy is thriving, the taxes are much higher, but there are JOBS a plenty! The area Albany to south say about northern Putnam County cannot be considered as metro NYC yet the economy thrives and the area is rural. So, WHY is this?

bulldog10

Phil you can blame Albany if you want. But the problem starts at home, and by home I mean with the local Board of Educations. Back in the 60s, 70s and 80s they gave out big contracts with extras like health care for life after retirement. Those are the issues that have come back to bite us you know where. Stop blaming others and look at what the local BOEs did in the past, that is the problem.

commentor

Will not be a permanent solution unless they consolidate into one building. That will not happen at least not initially. They will delude themselves because of the extra state aid but eventually they will end up just like Chautauqua/Mayville. In the same boat they are in now.

PhilJulian

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the root causes of our problems. If we had a business friendly.cost effective environment we would be building more schools and more churches instead of closing them down. We might not like it but we have to compete with other cities, counties and states for investment in new job creating investments. We are not getting that investment and the result is that we are struggling to hang on to a great lifestyle that was build by our ancestors. Perhaps the problems all start in Albany where government mandates programs that are simply not affordable. At the local level we refuse to accept the fact that our structure of government is outdated, too expensive and loaded with duplications that are costly and not necessary. Either we learn to control costs in the public sector or we will continue the decline in our standard of living and quality of life with continued losses in population and services.